Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and Series S consoles launched with excellent backwards compatibility support last year, but the Xbox team is making things even better today with a new FPS Boost mode for select Xbox One games. Microsoft first teased this feature last year with a video of Fallout 4 running at double its original frame rate on the Xbox Series S, and today the company is enabling FPS Boost on a first selection of games.
Far Cry 4, New Super Lucky’s Tale, Sniper Elite 4, UFC 4, and Watch Dogs 2 are the first Xbox One games to support FPS Boost today, and the feature. “We chose this initial collection of titles not only because they are popular among fans, but to highlight several different ways that FPS Boost can improve your experience,” explained Paul Eng, Senior Program Manager at Xbox.
New Super Lucky’s Tale, an Xbox Game Pass title that runs at 30FPS on the Xbox One S and 60 FPS on the Xbox One X can now run at up to 120 FPS thanks to FPS Boost. Far Cry 4, Watch Dogs 2, Sniper Elite 4, and UFC 4 were also running at 30 FPS on Xbox One consoles, and FPS Boost should really help to make to improve the gameplay experience.
In future Xbox OS update coming this Spring, Microsoft will allow Xbox Series X|S to turn FPS Boost and Auto HDR on and off for backwards compatible games. The update will also add a new indicator informing you when a game is running with FPS Boost, similar to the existing icon for Auto HDR that appears when you press the Xbox button.
“We partnered closely with developers to enhance the experience while maintaining the game’s original intent. And while not applicable to all games, these new techniques can push game engines to render more quickly for a buttery smooth experience beyond what the original game might have delivered due to the capabilities of the hardware at the time,” Paul Eng wrote.
In many ways, FPS Boost complements the Quick Resume and Auto HDR that already benefits backwards-compatible games on Xbox Series X|S consoles. Playing games with double the framerate and Auto HDR can almost feel like playing a remaster, and Xbox Series X|S owners get all these benefits for free. Even though FPS won’t work for all games, this could well become a killer feature and we’re looking forward to seeing which backwards compatible games will benefit from it.
